Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP16791
Authors: Corrado Giulietti; Michael Vlassopoulos; Yves Zenou
Abstract: In this study, we investigate whether COVID-19 deaths that occurred before vaccination rollouts impact subsequent vaccination take-ups. We used data on local vaccination rates and COVID-19-related deaths from England measured at high geographic granularity. We found that vaccination take-up as of November 2021 was positively associated with pre-vaccine COVID-19-related deaths, controlling for demographic, economic, and health-related characteristics of the localities, while including geographic fixed effects. In addition, the share of ethnic minorities in a locality was negatively associated with vaccination rates, and that localities with a larger share of ethnic minorities increased their vaccination rates if they get exposed to more COVID-related-deaths. Further evidence on vaccination intention at the individual level from a representative sample corroborated these patterns. Overall, our evidence suggests that social proximity to victims of the disease triggers a desire to take protective measures against it.
Keywords: vaccination; hesitancy; covid19; social interactions; information; behavior change
JEL Codes: H51; I12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| pre-vaccine COVID-19-related deaths (I12) | vaccination take-up (I19) |
| share of ethnic minorities (J15) | vaccination take-up (I19) |
| pre-vaccine COVID-19-related deaths + share of ethnic minorities (J15) | vaccination take-up (I19) |
| social proximity to victims of COVID-19 (I14) | vaccination take-up (I19) |
| COVID-19-related deaths (I12) | information circulation in communities (O36) |